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Els One of Many Big Names at Westchester

HARRISON, N.Y. -- Ernie Els never considered skipping the Buick Classic to prepare for the U.S. Open, even though it meant playing six straight weeks.

After all, the events during the stretch are favorites for Els, who is seeking his third victory in the tournament that begins Thursday at Westchester Country Club.

'I didn't want to miss out on any of them,' he said.

The two-time U.S. Open champion began the long run to Shinnecock Hills with a seventh-place tie in the Byron Nelson in Texas. He followed with a fifth-place tie in the Deutsche Bank in Germany, finished seventh in the Volvo PGA in England and won the Memorial last week in Ohio for his second tour victory of the year.

'It's a good challenge. You just do it,' Els said. 'I had three weeks off before this long stretch and I'm going to have a nice time off after this.'

While Buick endorser Tiger Woods is taking his usual break the week before a major championship, the tournament has attracted 25 of the top 30 players on the money list -- including two-time winner Vijay Singh, Masters champion Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III and 2001 champion Sergio Garcia.

Mickelson spent last weekend on Long Island preparing for the U.S. Open, the first major championship since his breakthrough Masters victory.

'The preparation I had for Augusta paid off, so I'm trying to incorporate that into this upcoming major,' Mickelson said Wednesday. 'I flew in last week and spent three days over there learning the course.'

The hilly, tree-lined Westchester course -- a par-71 layout that is only 6,751 yards -- places a premium on shotmaking, making it an ideal tuneup event for the U.S. Open.

'It's a wonderful place for us to get ready for a U.S. Open,' Mickelson said. 'It's very similar to what a U.S. Open test is, with the thick rough, tight fairways, undulating greens, small greens, fallaways. The difference is there will be no wind.'

Els, the 1996 and 1997 Buick Classic winner, moved past Singh -- also a two-time Westchester champion -- for the No. 2 spot in the world rankings behind Woods with his victory Sunday at Muirfield Village.

'I think Vijay and Ernie are certainly playing the best golf of anybody on tour. Leave the rankings out of it,' Love said. 'You say, `Who do you like for this horse race this week?' Well, you'd be hard pressed to go past Vijay and Ernie.'

Love, the 1997 PGA winner at nearby Winged Foot, is seeking his first victory of the year after winning a career-high four times last season.

'I've been thinking about my swing on the golf course a little bit too much,' Love said. 'So the goal for this week and next week is just to get out and play golf. I feel like I'm hitting the ball good enough, putting well enough, doing everything well enough to score, but I'm not scoring.'

Jonathan Kaye won the rainy 2003 tournament for the first of his two PGA Tour titles, beating John Rollins with an eagle on the first playoff hole.

'I'll try and forget last year,' Kaye said. 'You can't live in the past. You've got to live in the present when you're playing golf.'

He's making his seventh appearance in the event.

'It's my favorite city to come to and it's my favorite course to play,' Kaye said. 'It's the center of the world. You've got great shows, good entertainment, great food, lots of good people watching, good shopping, great golf courses. What else do you need?'

DivotsJay Haas is making his tournament-record 26th appearance. The 50-year-old Haas tied for eighth in the Memorial to move into 10th place in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings. ... The winner will receive $945,000 from the $5.25 million purse.

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On the strength of his Western Am title, Hammer, 18, has soared to No. 18 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He credited his work with swing coach Cameron McCormick and mental coach Bob Rotella.

“Just really started controlling my iron shots really well,” said Hammer, who has worked with McCormick since 2015, when he qualified for the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay as a 15-year-old.

“Distance control with my wedges and all my iron shots, playing different shots, has become really a strength in my game. I’ve really turned the putter on this year, and I’m seeing the lines and matching the line with the speed really well. I think that’s been the key to my summer.”

A two-time New Zealand Amateur champion, Hillier is ranked 27th in the world. He said that, entering the tournament, he would have been pleased just to make it to match play.

“But to come out on top, it’s amazing,” Hillier said. “Cole is a really good golfer and has been playing well lately. So, yeah, I’m in good company.”

Faldo: Woods told fellow Masters champ 'I'm done' in '17

Fresh off his runner-up finish at the PGA Championship, it's easy to get caught up in the recent success and ebullient optimism surrounding Tiger Woods. But it was not that long ago that Woods even hitting another competitive shot was very much in doubt.

Six-time major champ Sir Nick Faldo shed light on those darker times during a recent appearance on the Dan Patrick Show when he relayed a story from the 2017 Masters champions' dinner. The annual meal is one of golf's most exclusive fraternities, as only the chairman of Augusta National Golf Club is allowed to dine with the men who have each donned a green jacket.

Last spring Woods had not yet undergone spinal fusion surgery, and Faldo explained that Woods at one point turned to an unnamed Masters champ and grimly assessed his future playing chances.

"I know he whispered to another Masters champion, two Masters dinners ago, 'I'm done. I won't play golf again,'" Faldo said. "He said, 'I'm done. I'm done, my back is done.' He was in agony. He was in pain. His leg, the pain down his legs, there was nothing enjoyable. He couldn't move. If you watched footage of him, he couldn't even get in and out of the golf cart at the (2016) Ryder Cup when he was a vice captain."

But Woods opted for fusion surgery a few weeks later, and after a lengthy rehab process he returned to competition in December. His 2018 campaign has been nothing short of remarkable, with a pair of runner-up finishes to go along with a T-6 result at The Open when he held the outright lead on the back nine on Sunday.

After apparently even counting himself out, Woods is back up to 26th in the latest world rankings and appears in line to be added as a captain's pick for the Ryder Cup next month.

"What he's been able to do is unbelievable," Faldo said. "To turn this aruond, to get this spine fusion, it's completely taken away the pain. To have this mobility is absolutely amazing. Great on him, and great for golf."

McDowell needs Wyndham result to maintain status

For the first time in nearly three years, Graeme McDowell heads into an event with his PGA Tour status hanging in the balance.

The Ulsterman joined the Tour in 2006, and he has had nearly uninterrupted status since winning the 2010 U.S. Open. But McDowell's two-season exemption for winning the 2015 OHL Classic at Mayakoba only extends through this week, where he will start the Wyndham Championship at No. 143 in the season-long points race.

McDowell tied for fifth at Sedgefield Country Club in 2016, and he will likely need a similar result to crack the top 125 in the standings and retain his fully exempt status for the 2019 season. While he finished T-10 in Las Vegas in November, that remains his lone top-10 finish of the Tour season. The veteran's best results this year have come in Europe, where he tied for fifth at the Italian Open and finished T-12 at the BMW PGA Championship.

"I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself. I feel like it's not a do-or-die scenario for me," McDowell told reporters earlier this month at the Barracuda Championship. "I feel if I was 25 years old without a European Tour card to fall back on, it would be a do-or-die scenario. Certainly trying to put the pressure off, if I don't get myself into the top 125 it's not the end of the world for me. I still feel like I can play a great schedule next season."

By finishing Nos. 126-150 in points after this week, McDowell would retain conditional status that would likely ensure him at least 12-15 starts next season. He would also still have privileges as a past tournament champion.

But he's not the only winner from the 2015-16 season whose two-year exemption is on the verge of running out. Fabian Gomez (160th), Peter Malnati (164th) and Billy Hurley III (202nd) all need big results in Greensboro to keep their cards, while Shane Lowry, David Lingmerth and Matt Every all earned three-year exemptions for victories in 2015 but currently sit Nos. 139, 140 and 184 in points, respectively.

Last year four players moved into the top 125 thanks to strong play at Wyndham, with the biggest jump coming from Rory Sabbatini, who went from No. 148 to No. 122 after tying for fourth place.

Vogel Monday qualifies for eighth time this season

The PGA Tour's regular season ended with another tally for the Monday King.

While Monday qualifiers are a notoriously difficult puzzle to solve, with dozens of decorated professionals vying for no more than four spots in a given tournament field, T.J. Vogel has turned them into his personal playground this season. That trend continued this week when he earned a spot into the season-ending Wyndham Championship, shooting a 5-under 66 and surviving a 4-for-3 playoff for the final spots.

It marks Vogel's eighth successful Monday qualification this season, extending the unofficial record he set when he earned start No. 7 last month at The Greenbrier. Patrick Reed earned the nickname "Mr. Monday" when he successfully qualified six different times during the 2012 season before securing full-time status.

There have been 24 different Monday qualifiers throughout the season, with Vogel impressively turning 19 qualifier starts into eight tournament appearances.

Vogel started the year with only conditional Web.com Tour status, and explained at the AT&T Byron Nelson in May that he devised his summer schedule based on his belief that it's easier to Monday qualify for a PGA Tour event than a Web.com tournament.

"The courses that the PGA Tour sets the qualifiers up, they're more difficult and sometimes they're not a full field whereas the Web, since there's no pre-qualifier, you have two full fields for six spots each and the courses aren't as tough," Vogel said. "So I feel like if you take a look at the numbers, a lot of the Web qualifiers you have to shoot 8-under."

Vogel has made three cuts in his previous seven starts this year, topping out with a T-16 finish at the Valspar Championship in March. The 27-year-old also played the weekend at the Nelson and the Wells Fargo Championship, missing the cut at The Greenbrier in addition to the RSM Classic, Honda Classic and FedEx St. Jude Classic.

While Vogel won't have another Monday qualifier opportunity until October, he has a chance to secure some 2019 status this week in Greensboro. His 51 non-member FedExCup points would currently slot him 205th in the season-long race, 13 points behind Rod Pampling at No. 200. If Vogel earns enough points to reach the equivalent of No. 200 after this week, he'd clinch a spot in the upcoming Web.com Tour Finals where he would have a chance to compete for a full PGA Tour card for the 2018-19 season.